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22-561: According to the Masseket Azilut , it is the region where the ofanim rule and where they promote the hearing of prayers, support human endeavor, and combat evil. Their ruler is Sandalphon . According to the system of the later Land of Israel Kabbalah, 'Asiyah is the lowest of the spiritual worlds containing the Ten Heavens and the whole system of mundane Creation. The light of the sefirot emanates from these Ten Heavens, which are called

44-496: A descending chain, although the lowest world of Assiah has both a spiritual and a physical aspect. The physical level of Assiah is our physical finite realm, including the cosmological Universe studied by science. Consequently, as Kabbalah becomes more of a metaphysical study, the terms "higher" and "lower" are used as metaphors for being closer or further from Divine consciousness, revelation, and emanance. The 16th-century systemisation of Kabbalah by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero brought

66-974: A primordial world, Adam Kadmon , and called the Five Worlds , are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in a descending chain of existence . The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of creative lifeforce from the Ein Sof or Godhead through progressive, innumerable tzimtzumim or concealments. Kabbalists identified the names of these worlds from Isaiah 43:7, "All who are linked to My name, Whom I have created , Formed , and made for My glory ( Biblical Hebrew : כֹּ֚ל הַנִּקְרָ֣א בִשְׁמִ֔י וְלִכְבוֹדִ֖י בְּרָאתִ֑יו יְצַרְתִּ֖יו אַף־עֲשִׂיתִֽיו׃ , romanized:  Kol hanniqrā b̲išmi wəlik̲b̲od̲i bərāt̲iw yəṣartiw ʾap̲-ʿăśit̲iw. )". The names are thus Beri'ah "Creation," Yetzirah "Formation," Assiah "Action," and Atziluth "Emanation." Below Assiah,

88-721: A spiritual rung of ascent in human consciousness, as it approaches the Divine. Kabbalah distinguishes between two types of Divine light that emanate through the 10 sefirot (Divine emanations) from the Infinite ( Ein Sof ), to create or affect reality. There is a continual flow of a "lower" light, the Mimalei Kol Olmin , the light of eminence that "fills all worlds" is the creating force in each descending world, that itself continually brings everything in that level of existence into being from nothing. It

110-511: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to the Hebrew language is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Masseket Azilut Massekhet Azilut ( Hebrew : מסכת אצילות , romanized :  māsekheth ʾəṣiluth , lit.   'Mask of Nobility') is an anonymous kabalistic work from the early 14th century . It is the earliest literary product of speculative Kabbala that contains

132-472: Is continuous. The faculty of Divine Will is represented in the sefirot (10 Divine emanations) by the first, supra-conscious Sephirah of "Keter"-Crown, that transcends the lower 9 Sephirot of conscious intellect and emotion. Once the Divine Will is manifest, then it actualises Creation through Divine Intellect, and "subsequently" Divine Emotion, until it results in action. The reference to temporal cause and effect

154-572: Is hardly justified in assuming that it was influenced directly by any philosophical system. The book places Metatron and the angels centered around him in the world of Yetzirah rather than Beri'ah , as later became the case. Beginning with Isaac of Acre and the Massekhet Atzilut , the Hebrew letter Yod (י) has been associated with the World of Atzilut , Heh (ה) with Beri'ah, Vau (ו) with Yetzirah, and

176-545: Is itself a metaphor. The psychology of man also reflects the "Divine psychology" of the sefirot, as "Man is created in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27). In man the activation of willpower through intellect and emotion until deed, requires time and subsequent cause and effect. In the Divine Sephirot and their activation of Creation, this does not apply, as limitations only apply to Creation. The Book of Job states that "from my flesh I see God". In Kabbalah and Hasidism this

198-408: Is this light that undergoes the various divine concealments and contractions as it descends downward to create the next level, and adapts itself to the capacity of each created being on each level. A transcendent higher light Sovev Kol Olmin , the light that "surrounds all worlds" would be the manifestation on a particular level of a higher light which above the capacity of that realm to contain. This

220-574: Is ultimately rooted in the infinite light ("Ohr Ein Sof") that preceded Creation, the Tzimtzum and the Sephirot, rather than the source of the immanent light in the "Kav" (first emanation of creation after the Tzimtzum), in the teachings of Isaac Luria. Consequently, all the worlds are dependent for their continual existence on the flow of Divinity they constantly receive from the Divine Will to create them. Creation

242-516: Is understood to refer to the correspondence between the "Divine psychology" of the Four Worlds and the Sephirot, with human psychology and the Sephirot in the soul of man. From understanding the Kabbalistic description of the human soul, we can grasp the meaning of the Divine scheme. Ultimately, this is seen as the reason that God chose to emanate His Divinity through the 10 Sephirot, and chose to create

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264-600: The Light that fills all worlds , the divine creative light or ohr that is divine immanence . The ten sefirot "attributes" and their associated twelve partzufim or "personas" reflect this light in the Four Worlds, as do more specific Divine manifestations. In Lurianic Kabbalah , the partzufim interact dynamically, and sublime levels are clothed within lower existences, a concealed soul. Nonetheless, in each world, sefirot and partzufim predominate. The Five Worlds are, in descending order: The Four Worlds are spiritual, heavenly realms in

286-523: The "Ten Sefirot of 'Asiyah"; and through them spirituality and piety are imparted to the realm of matter—the seat of the dark and impure powers. Representing purely material existence, it is known as the World of Action, the World of Effects or the World of Making. In Western esotericism , it is associated with the Suit of coins in the Tarot . The world of Yetzirah precedes it. This Kabbalah -related article

308-628: The corresponding chain of four Worlds (called the " Seder hishtalshelus "-"order of development"). He could have chosen to bridge the infinite gap between the Ein Sof and our World by a leap of Divine decree. Instead the Sephirot and Four Worlds allow man to understand Divinity through Divine manifestation, by understanding himself. The verse in Genesis of this correspondence also describes the feminine half of Creation: (Genesis 1:27) "So God created man in His own image, in

330-547: The created beings on each level, to prevent their loss of identity before the magnificence of God. This illusion increases with more force in each subsequent descending realm. The number of graduations between the Infinite and the finite, is likewise infinite, and arises from innumerable, progressively strong concealments of the Divine light. Nonetheless, the four worlds represent fundamental categories of Divine consciousness from each other, which delineates their four descriptions. Consequently, each world also psychologically represents

352-570: The doctrine of the Four Worlds , a doctrine not contained in the Zohar , as well as that of the concentration of the Divine Being. The Messekhet Atzilut opens with the following passage: Eliyahu opened, it is written, "The secret of God is for those who fear Him". ( Psalms 25:14) This verse refers to the idea that even if a Jew learns Mishnah , Gemara and yet has no awe—for naught does he splash in

374-450: The emphasis laid on keeping the doctrine secret and on the compulsory piety of the learners, is evidence of the early date of the work. At the time when Masseket Aẓilut was written kabbala had not yet become a subject of general study, but was still confined to a few of the elect. The treatment is on the whole the same as that found in the mystical writings of the time of the Geonim , with which

396-463: The final Heh with Assiah , thus spelling out the name of God, YHWH , in terms of the four worlds . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "CABALA". The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Four worlds The Four Worlds ( Hebrew : עולמות ʿOlāmot , singular: ʿOlām עולם ), sometimes counted with

418-403: The great waters [of Kabbala], he toils entirely for nothing. Every one who fears God should actively pursue the hidden aspects [of Torah ], which are the essence of wisdom and knowledge, "God's glory is a hidden thing". ( Proverbs 25:2) When will you make glory for God? When you are occupied in the hidden aspects of Torah. The form in which the rudiments of kabbala are presented here, as well as

440-477: The lowest spiritual world, is the Assiah gashmi "Physical Assiah," the physical universe, which enclothes the last two sefirot , Yesod and Malkuth . Collectively, the Four Worlds are referred to as אבי״ע Aviyaʿ after their initial letters. In addition to the functional role each world has in the process of creation, they also embody dimensions of consciousness within human experience. The Worlds are formed by

462-401: The preceding interpretations and schools into their first complete rational synthesis. Subsequent doctrines of Kabbalah from Isaac Luria , describe an initial tzimtzum (withdrawal of the universal Divine consciousness that preceded Creation) to "allow room" for created beings on lower levels of consciousness. Lower levels of consciousness require the self-perception of independent existence, by

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484-513: The work has much in common; hence, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901) there is no reason for not regarding it as a product of that time. In contrast, Gershom Scholem considered it a 14th-century work. The doctrines of Metatron , and of angelology especially, are identical with those of the Geonim, and the idea of the sefirot is presented so simply and unphilosophically that one

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